Friday, August 3, 2012

Heart Day!

It's finally here. We are here in the family waiting room. It's just James and myself and its quiet. There is no TV, no noise. It makes the minutes seem like hours, and the hours can not go fast enough. We get an update every 60 minutes. I'll type them below so you can see how the surgery is progressing. Words can not express how much we truly appreciate everyone's prayers!! They mean so much. It so comforting to know that there are so many people praying for our girl. Isabella has been such a blessing to us and it warms our heart to know that she is loved by so many people!

This morning was tough. I was doing okay until they took her from my arms. She looked so precious, so innocent. She was wrapped up in a little hospital blanket totally oblivious to what was happening. The only thing she was concerned about was getting something to eat (she was not allowed to eat after 2am). She was so hungry. She did not want to be upset, she did not want to cry, she was actually trying to smile, but the hunger pains kept getting to her. It broke mama's heart. I handed her over with a thousand thoughts and visions racing through my mind. I knew what they were about to do. I am thankful that she will be healthy after this, but knowing exactly HOW they were going to do it terrified me. I trust in the Lord and his goodness. A friend sent me this verse this morning "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains. The world, and all who dwell in it." Psalm 24:1. Our sweet girl is in His hands, He is in control.

Daddy trying to rock Isabella to sleep while we waited for them to come get for us for surgery.

Surgery Updates:

7:00 - Passed her over to the anesthesiologist, they took her back to get prepped for surgery.

8:00 - She was asleep, getting the breathing tube, art lines

9:00 - Incision was made getting ready to separate the sternum and cut through the pericardium (the sac containing the beating heart. Preparing for bypass machine

10:00 - Isabella is on bypass and the Dr. was starting to patch one of the holes (VSD)

11:00 - Fixing the Mitral valve (left side of heart) nurse said its taking longer than expected. they need to match it as close as possible, if not it could cause leakage.
Noon - still connected to the bypass machine. She is OFF bypass though. Her heart is beating on its own!! praise the Lord!! the holes were patched and the valves were fixed. she does have minor valve leakage. Now they just have to disconnect the bypass machine, check all of the sites they made incisions, "tidy" everything up and then close everything.
1:00- They are closing her up! Should be moving her to her room in the CICU in 30 minutes.
1:30- Talked with the surgeon. The repair went well, BUT there is one concern, I will try to explain. Isabella's valve leakage was a 4 on a 0-4 scale with 4 being severe. They were only able to repair the valve leakage to a 2.5 which is considered mild-moderate. Once the valve leakage reaches a 3 they will start thinking about doing ANOTHER open heart surgery. The Dr. said that it will never be lower than a 2.5, but there is a strong possibility that it could get worse. It could be worse tomorrow, 1 year from now, or 10 years from now. They don't really know, but they will be monitoring her. This was a little tough to hear because we assumed that this would be the only OHS she would ever need. Now to hear that she may need another one in the future is tough. Please continue to keep Isabella in your prayers. Pray that her valve leakage does not get worse!! They are about to move her to her room, then in about 45 minutes we get to see her!